Fredric billings



(No Model. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. BILLINGS.

THREE-WAY VALVE.

No. 579,466. Patented Mar. 23, 1897.

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Patented Mar. 23, 1897.

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IINi'rnn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FREDRIO BILLINGS, OF MARINETTE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO II. C. HIGGINS, OF SAME PLACE.

TH REE-WAY V ALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,465, dated March 23, 1897. Application filed December 19, 1896. Serial No. 616,356. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDRIC BILLINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marinette, in the county of Marinette and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Threeay Valves; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in three-way valves for admitting exhaust-steam to condensers or for any other similar purpose,the object being to produce a valve which will automatically admit the steam to or shut off the steam from the condenser at the proper intervals.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same parts are designated by the same letters of reference throughout the several views.

Figure 1. is a central sectional view of a valve constructed in accordance with my invention, the section being taken on the line 1 2 of Fig. 3, showing the valve in its normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the valve in the position to admit steam to the condenser. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device, takenon the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 4 is also a sectional view taken at right angles to Figs. 1 and 2 on the line 44 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

A designates the valve-casing, which is bored through centrally, as at A, and provided with a flange a, by which it is connected with the pipe leading to the condenser, the pipe and condenser being omitted from the drawings, as they form no part of the present invention. The central opening of the casing is enlarged at the opposite end to its junction with the condenser-pipe to form a valve-chamber A in which chamberavalve B of the plunger type is arranged to slide. An annular chamber 0 is formed around the central opening and separated therefrom by the partition-wall a, which has an annular vent a opening into the valve-chamber A The chamber 0 is connected with the pipe leading from the exhaust of the engine through the opening 0, which is flanged, as

at c, to make the proper connection.

At the opposite side of the valve from the opening 0 (or at any other suitable point) is formed an opening D, which is open to the atmospheric air at all times, and a vent A formed in the partition wall a of the valvecasing, opens communication from the chamber O to the openingD and thence to the atmospheric air. A rod E, having thereon a squared portion, as shown at e, is journaled at one end in one side of the opening D, just above the vent A and at the other end it passes through the other side of the opening D and through the stuffing-box E, and at this latter end has a lever or handle E mounted thereon, as seen in Figsp3 and 4. A flap-valve II is hung upon the central squared portion 6 of the rod E- and normally rests over the mouth of the vent A forming a check-valve to prevent the atmospheric air from entering the said vent, but to allow the steam in the chamber 0 to escape when, the steam-pressure therein exceeds the pressure of the atmospheric air without.

The valve B is of a cylindrical form, closed at its upper end and open'at its lower end, and is arranged to slide closely in the valvechamber A The said valve B is provided with ports I), which open through its side at the properpoints to registerwith the vent a when the valve is in its lower position.

The upper end of the valve-chamber A is closed by a perforated cap-piece I, through the perforations t' of which the atmospheric air may exert its pressure upon the top of the valve B. Through the central perforation t" of the cap-piece I the valve-rod B passes and is secured to or formed integral with the closed head of the valve B. The upper end of the valve-rod B is screw-threaded to receive the nuts I), and a spiral spring 17 surrounds the said valve-rod and bears at one end against the nuts I). The tendency of this spring b is to keep the valve B normally raised to the position shown in Fig. 1-t'. 6., with the annular rib b on the head of the valve resting against the under side of the cap I and the lower cylindrical part closing the vent a thus preventing the steam, should it enter the chamber 0, from entering the condenser- An opening K is formed in the casing A over the check-valve H, through which the said check-valve may be removed when necessary, and the said opening is normally covered by a cap-piece 70, held in place by bolts as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the condenser is in operation and full of steam, the valve 13 will remain in its raised position, thus cutting off the flow of steam from the condenser. As the steam is condensed a partial vacuum will be formed in the condenser, which will relieve the pressure below the valve B and allow the atmospheric pressure on top of the valve to overcome the tension of the spring 17 and press the valve downwardly to th'eposition shown in Fig. 2, thus opening the vent a and allowing the ex haust-steam to pass into the condenser. As soonas the condenser is filled with steam the partial vacuum is destroyed, and the valve IE will return to its raised position and shut off the steam from the condenser. This opera tion is repeated each time the partial vacuum in the condenser becomes sufficient to allow the outer atmospheric pressure to open the valve 13-. As soon as the vent a opens the rushing of the steam into the condenser will create'apartial vacuum in the chamber A on the inner side of the valve II, and the said valve will be forced firmly upon its seat by the o-uter'atmospheric pressure, thus shutting off the atmospheric air from the engine. An elastic gasket h is provided upon the valve II to bear upon the valve-seat and form a close connection. WVhen the condenser is not in operation, whether by reason of the fact that it has been purposely shut down or has suffered an accident, or for any reason whatever hasbecome inefficient, the valve B will retain its position at the extremity of its upward stroke, thus effectually closing the channel between the engine and the condenser and forcing the exhaust-steam to travel around through the chamber 0 and exert its power or pressure against the check-valve II and by so doing cause the said check-valve to swing outward upon its stem or'fulcrum-rod E and in so doing open a passage between the chamber O and the opening D, thus allowing the exhaust-steama free passage from the engine through the: opening G into chamber 0 and thence through the opening D to the outer air.

If at any time during the operation of the condenser from any cause whatever the partial vacuum created in the condenser is not sufficient to cause the valve: B to open thevent (Ea-T311611 the exhaust-steam will be diverted from the condenser and will passaround in thec'hambe-r C and out through the opening A raising the check valve II. When the condenser has begun to properly operate and a su-fiici'ent partial vacuum is once more created beneath the valve B to allow the atmospheric pressure toovercom-e the tension of the spring 6 and force the valve B downwardly, the vent a 'will be opened and the steam again turned into the condenser. Thus the operation of turning the exhaust-steam into or away from the condenser is performed automatically, the condenser being supplied with steam as long as it is operating properly, but the steam being cut off when the condensa tion ceases or is imperfectly performed.

WVhile this invention is described as a safety device for steam-condensers, it will be understood that it may be used for other purposes, and I therefore do not desire to limit myself to this specific use or; to the precise details of construction herein described, as manymodifications might be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The advantages of this invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat-' ent of the United States, is I 1. In a three-way valve, the combination with a casing having a central passage, a valve-chamber opening into the said central passage, a steam-chamber surrounding the said valve-chamber, a vent opening from the surrounding chamber into the said valvechamber, an opening to admit steam to the said steam-chamber, an opening from the steam-chamber to the outer or atmospheric air, and a check-valve con-trolling the said opening, of a valve arranged toslide in the said chamber, and open or close the said vent, substantially as described.

2. In a three-way valve, the combination -with a casing having a central passage, a

valve-chamber opening into the said central passage, a steam-chamber surrounding the said valve-chamber, a vent opening from the surrounding chamber into the said valvechamber, an opening to admit steam to the said steam =chamber, an opening from the steam-chamber to the outer or atmospheric air, and a check-valve controlling the said opening, of a valve arranged to slide in the said valve-chamber and having ports adapted to register with the said vent and open or close the same, substantially as described.

3. In a three-way valve, the combination with a casing having a central passage, a valve-chamber opening into the said central passage, a steam-chamber surrounding the said valve-chamber, a vent opening from the surrounding chamber into the said valvecham-ber, an opening to admit,steam to the said steam chamber, an opening from the steam-chamber to the outer or atmospheric air, and a check-valve controlling the said opening, of a valve arranged to slide in the said valve-chamber and having ports adapted to register with the said vent, a valve-rod on the said valve and a spring on the said valverodadapted to normally hold the valve in the closed position, substantially as described.

4:. In a three-way valve, the combination with a casing having a central passage, a valve-chamber opening into the said central IIO having ports adapted to register with the said vent; a Valve-rod on the said valve, and a spring on the said valve-rod adapted to hold the valve in its closed position, substantially I 5 as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FREDRIC BILLINGS.

WVitnesses:

E. 0. EASTMAN, C. H. DAVIS. 

